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Author Topic: SSJ's workshop-currently designing flamethrowers  (Read 5342 times)

soulslicerjames

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SSJ's workshop-currently designing flamethrowers
« on: August 24, 2012, 10:59:29 am »

I'm not sure how to best start this thread, so I'll just be strait-forward.  This thread is going to be where I work on mods, as well as providing them to the BAY12 community.  This is also where I'll discuss ideas for how to make them work, what I'll be doing in them, and whatnot.

NOTE: I've yet to learn how to mod, so until then this will just be for discussing how things will work in gameplay.

Flamethrowers: Lets face it, flamethrowers are awesome.  I dare you to tell me that you wouldn't be happy to have them in DF.  so I'm going to try and make one.  I've decided on the following traits so far:

-will be stationary weapons used by siege operators, just like catapults and ballista.  This is for many reasons.  first, there is no skill for for fighting with any akin to a flamethrower, and I don't feel like making one.  Second, I also don't want to make stuff for how dwarves using flamethrowers would need tanks of fuel strapped to their backs.  Finally, and not involving laziness on my part, dwarves are not fire-proof, and flamethrowers are very indiscriminate weapons.  No-one would use flamethrowers if a dwarf using them is likely to catch fire from doing so, and dwarven "intelligence" pretty much guarantees other dwarves will suffer from friendly fire or someone will use one while sparring.

-To compensate for being immobile weapons dwarfed by dwarfs that are technically civilians that will run away if enemies get too close, they will have a much longer range compared to traditional depictions of flamethrowers(maybe around 20-30 tiles long).

-will use "fuel" as ammo.  fuel is obtained by processing any oil (not the sort of oil that is a fossil fuel, mind you).  In addition to rock nut oil, I plan on also adding at least 3 more plants that can be pressed to provide oil (2 above-ground crops and a subterranean one) . processing is done at an alchemist's workshop (replacing the soap maker's workshop as where soap is made, and also where valley herbs will be processed into golden salve instead of the farmer's workshop.  The soap maker skill will be replaced with alchemist, which covers everything done in this workshop).  Fuel is stored in barrels, under misc. liquids in stockpiles, is highly flammable, and burns very hot (maybe around 10500 °U, I'm not entirely sure what would be good) and very fast.  A fireman just standing next to a barrel of fuel should be enough to set it off.

-Will work based off of a pump, spraying the fuel at a very high pressure.  Some sort of interaction will light the fuel right as it leaves the flamethrower (this also means there will be a few tiles between whoever is dwarfing the flamethrower and the fire itself, so you only need to forbid dwarves from walking in front of it to prevent friendly fire).  UPDATE: Being told this isn't possible, I'm thinking of perhaps having it merely consume the fuel and produce the fire.

-(NOTE: this might not be possible to implement) The flamethrower can hold 4 barrel's worth of fuel.  Firing it will use up 1 barrel's worth of fuel, and after a brief delay may be fired again.  If a full barrel's worth of fuel is not available, it will spray all it has left.  From a dwarf's perspective, the flamethrower actually does have 4 barrels on it for storing fuel, but can only draw from 1 barrel at a time, after which you have to switch which barrel it's drawing from.
« Last Edit: August 24, 2012, 01:06:51 pm by soulslicerjames »
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soulslicerjames

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Re: SSJ's workshop-currently designing flamethrowers
« Reply #1 on: August 24, 2012, 10:59:55 am »

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soulslicerjames

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Re: SSJ's workshop-currently designing flamethrowers
« Reply #2 on: August 24, 2012, 11:00:26 am »

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doubt I'll need this one, but I'm playing it safe.
« Last Edit: August 24, 2012, 11:02:04 am by soulslicerjames »
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soulslicerjames

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Re: SSJ's workshop-currently designing flamethrowers
« Reply #3 on: August 24, 2012, 11:00:42 am »

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Probably will never put enough things up to need this, but I just want to make sure I don't run out of space.
« Last Edit: August 24, 2012, 11:05:40 am by soulslicerjames »
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AutomataKittay

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Re: SSJ's workshop-currently designing flamethrowers
« Reply #4 on: August 24, 2012, 11:07:45 am »

AFAIK, you can't build a custom immobile weapon platform. I haven't seen a safe way to make 'fuel' that would ignite reliably against targets without blowing up right out of production either. I'm not sure if there're a way to use liquid as ammo in fort mode, though you could get around that by making 'shots' ammo through custom reactions.
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soulslicerjames

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Re: SSJ's workshop-currently designing flamethrowers
« Reply #5 on: August 24, 2012, 11:15:40 am »

I may not know anything about how to mod yet, but I feel my idea of basing it off how a pump works is possible.
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Splint

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Re: SSJ's workshop-currently designing flamethrowers
« Reply #6 on: August 24, 2012, 11:21:17 am »

That might require the ability to make it a fluid that can be pumped. While it wouldn't be great, you could still do something akin to like the golem thing from Masterwork to turn a dwarf into a flamethrower soldier (basically making them fireproof and giving them a generic fireball thing.) The dwarf may not be able to do anything other than that, but it'd be a decent facimile of such a thing.

Putnam

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Re: SSJ's workshop-currently designing flamethrowers
« Reply #7 on: August 24, 2012, 11:47:17 am »

1. Pumps are hardcoded.
2. Liquids are as well.
3. Splint's idea is the only way to do this.

AutomataKittay

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Re: SSJ's workshop-currently designing flamethrowers
« Reply #8 on: August 24, 2012, 11:52:25 am »

I may not know anything about how to mod yet, but I feel my idea of basing it off how a pump works is possible.

Might as well mine to magma and do it the dwarven way. That's also the only way to do burning liquids until other liquids are implemented fully, since I don't think contamination goes through pumps either.
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Splint

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Re: SSJ's workshop-currently designing flamethrowers
« Reply #9 on: August 24, 2012, 11:53:54 am »

I may not know anything about how to mod yet, but I feel my idea of basing it off how a pump works is possible.

Might as well mine to magma and do it the dwarven way. That's also the only way to do burning liquids until other liquids are implemented fully, since I don't think contamination goes through pumps either.

Pumps at present act in the opposite way and decontaminate things. And he's meaning a means of weaponization of fire more than magma. I think.

AutomataKittay

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Re: SSJ's workshop-currently designing flamethrowers
« Reply #10 on: August 24, 2012, 12:00:04 pm »

I may not know anything about how to mod yet, but I feel my idea of basing it off how a pump works is possible.

Might as well mine to magma and do it the dwarven way. That's also the only way to do burning liquids until other liquids are implemented fully, since I don't think contamination goes through pumps either.

Pumps at present act in the opposite way and decontaminate things. And he's meaning a means of weaponization of fire more than magma. I think.

I did said I don't think pumps would carry contamination through it, ha. I don't know of any reliable vanilla way to cause fire outside of magma in fort mode either, and it's the only 'flammable' liquid, in the sense it sets things on fire, that's pumpable.

Sorry if I sounds confusing, magma's hard-coded and can make fire, and it's pumpable, unlike contaminations :D
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Splint

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Re: SSJ's workshop-currently designing flamethrowers
« Reply #11 on: August 24, 2012, 12:05:37 pm »

I personally a flamer guy would just be the best thing. maybe make the transormation thing include an explosive tank that is super volitile so it explodes and kills everyone around them.

The goblin pikeman hits the flamethrower in the tank, peircing the plating and severing a fuel line!
The Flamethrower explodes in a cloud of fire and smoke!

The flamethrower has been struck down.
The goblin is caught in a cloud of boiling naptha! x4
The goblin pikeman has bled to death.

I dunno. Maybe nitroglycerin or something. Just seemed like a good idea at the time.

Putnam

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Re: SSJ's workshop-currently designing flamethrowers
« Reply #12 on: August 24, 2012, 12:08:11 pm »

Exploding in that way isn't quite possible, but similar effects can be had (see the creeper cavern mod).

soulslicerjames

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Re: SSJ's workshop-currently designing flamethrowers
« Reply #13 on: August 24, 2012, 01:02:10 pm »

1. Pumps are hardcoded.
2. Liquids are as well.
3. Splint's idea is the only way to do this.
In other words, my idea won't work, but I won't understand why until I learn to mod?  Once again, ambition is struck down by lack of knowledge.

I may not know anything about how to mod yet, but I feel my idea of basing it off how a pump works is possible.

Might as well mine to magma and do it the dwarven way. That's also the only way to do burning liquids until other liquids are implemented fully, since I don't think contamination goes through pumps either.

Pumps at present act in the opposite way and decontaminate things. And he's meaning a means of weaponization of fire more than magma. I think.

my idea is basically try to find a way to get it to spray a liquid, with with an interaction that lights it as soon as it left the pump-based part.  The way I would like fuel to work, it would be like dragon-fire, but far cooler(temperature-wise of course).  Would there be some way have it consume fuel and just produce the fire?
I personally a flamer guy would just be the best thing. maybe make the transormation thing include an explosive tank that is super volitile so it explodes and kills everyone around them.

The goblin pikeman hits the flamethrower in the tank, peircing the plating and severing a fuel line!
The Flamethrower explodes in a cloud of fire and smoke!

The flamethrower has been struck down.
The goblin is caught in a cloud of boiling naptha! x4
The goblin pikeman has bled to death.

I dunno. Maybe nitroglycerin or something. Just seemed like a good idea at the time.

Another thing I don't want to figure out how to make work.  Also gives another reason why dwarf-portable flamethrowers aren't that good an idea; exploding upon death sounds great, but this would kill the dwarf with the flamethrower despite the goblin not actually wounding him, and would take out anyone near him, including other dwarves.  Would you really want to risk losing 3-5 highly trained soldiers just because a goblin got lucky and hit the fuel-tank?  OTOH, I want fuel to be very stable (so puncturing the fuel-tank will merely cause a leak) and burn away really quickly.  It would only be dangerous due to burning really hot.
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Putnam

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Re: SSJ's workshop-currently designing flamethrowers
« Reply #14 on: August 24, 2012, 01:05:40 pm »

Can't have fuel. Infinite or none at all.
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